Yes, I’m addicted to reading. There are worse things I could be addicted to…like my current caffeine habit a.k.a legal crack. Here are a few books I’m looking forward to reading this summer. Maybe on a beach somewhere….or better yet a picnic at the park with some wine and cheese.
Bring on the summer fun….winter blues are over…
Planning to read this summer? Or spend all your time outside? ;) Either way enjoy!
© iStockPhoto/Franck-Boston
Getting organized is always a resolution for a large majority of people at the beginning of a new year. Most people don’t get very far. It’s a resolution that’s kept as much as the losing weight intention is. Clutter has an energy. Get rid of it and it’s surprising how much better you feel.
I am by no means an expert organizer. I can create a gigantic mess with the best of them. Anything in my digital life is organized but the physical world is another matter entirely.
Books I’ve found helpful for getting organized in general
Dealing with my finances
Try something new… see a professional
- Open Spaces Feng Shui from Ann Bingley Gallops offers a more holistic approach. It isn’t just about getting organized. More like energizing your Chi.
- Spacial Harmony from Dara Finkel working with her could bring “serenity and peace”.
Even though I have a iPod Touch and a Blackberry I use a notebook as a daily log. Simply because it’s hard to talk on the phone and type. Sketching during a meeting is simple. I just start each day with the date at the top and scribble from there. I don’t write to-do lists in there because they already have a home.
There are tons of websites and books to help you create a system that works for you. Stick with it for a few weeks at least before you give up. Changing habits require at least 30 days according to the experts.
My final word is to pick just one thing and finish it. Don’t try to get rid of a year’s worth of clutter in 1 day. It won’t work. Start small but start. It won’t get better by just thinking or staring at it. If it worked that way we’d all have clean desks or houses and a working schedule just by wishing it were so.
© iStockPhoto/kertlis
The books I couldn’t put down in 2010
- Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead
by Nancy Ancowitz – as an introvert this book has been a great reference and affirmation for what works for me and what doesn’t when it comes to promoting myself. I learned I was already doing alot to honor my own style. Not necessarily the way an extrovert would but one that works for me. I wrote several posts about my experiences with Nancy both as an instructor for self-promotion and presentation skills for introverts.
Below are the posts: –
Follow her on Twitter for Self-Promotion for Introverts® tips – @NancyAncowitz
- The Female Brain
by Louann Brizendin – in my post “What makes women unique? “The Female Brain” reveals many secrets.” I discussed what I learned from reading this book. It’s funny as a woman you’d mistakenly think you know everything about your brain but there is a lot that science can teach about why and how we do the things we do. This book answers some of those questions.
- Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith – a solid overview of social media and why it’s more about relationship building than the tools you use.
- Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow
by Elizabeth Lesser – Sharon Salzberg, is one of America’s leading insight meditation teachers and spirituality writers said it best when she said that the book
“bravely and beautifully explores one of the most compelling questions of life: How do we emerge from suffering and challenge with real, encompassing wisdom and love? Broken Open is personal, pragmatic, and enlightening.”
Broken Open presents some great questions to ponder: Do we give-up when bad things happen? Stay angry forever? Or learn and grow from the experience. The book is filled with stories. Yes, some tragic but how the individuals or families chose to live in spite of what happened is a testimony to what the human spirit can achieve. We can’t choose what fate throws at us but we can choose our reaction to it. One doesn’t have to live with the “why me” syndrome. Be like a Phoenix and rise from the ashes. Shit happens regardless of our best intentions.
- Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures
by Dan Roam the follow-up to The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
is a great book to learn how to solve problems visually. It is a workshop in a book. You just have to spend the time doing the exercises. Even if you think can’t draw it doesn’t matter. I plan to re-read both of Dan’s books in 2011 just to reinforce what I learned.
It’s no secret I read a lot. I have run out of space on my bookshelf at home. The next step is to go digital I suppose but I think I would miss the feel and smell of the real thing. I probably only read about 5% fiction books. In 2010, I only read 3 – The Host: A Novel
by Stephanie Meyer, An Echo in the Bone: A Novel (Outlander)
by Diana Gabaldon and Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga)
by Stephanie Meyer (The movie adaptation will probably suck given it’s PG 13 rating. As my 1st and only Twilight book it was better than expected).
What’s on my reading list for 2011
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